1. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  2. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  3. Abbott, Edwin A. 1
  4. Abo, Akinori 9
  5. absence 2
  6. academia 1
  7. Acaster, James 2
  8. adolescence 4
  9. aerospace 5
  10. Akasegawa, Genpei 3
  11. Alexander, Christopher 135
  12. Alexander, Scott 5
  13. Ammer, Ralph 6
  14. analogy 3
  15. Anderson, Sam 1
  16. anger 2
  17. Appleton, Maggie 5
  18. Arango, Jorge 4
  19. architecture 110
  20. Asimov, Isaac 5
  21. Aurelius, Marcus 14
  22. Bacon, Edmund 1
  23. balance 3
  24. Barragán, Luis 1
  25. Barrett, Sarah R. 1
  26. Beck, Kent 1
  27. Beddoes, Thomas Lovell 1
  28. behavior 4
  29. Beneyto, Carlos 1
  30. Bertaud, Alain 1
  31. blogging 22
  32. body 11
  33. books 5
  34. boston 2
  35. Brander, Gordon 1
  36. Branwen, Gwern 1
  37. Bray, Tim 2
  38. breakups 0
  39. brevity 1
  40. bridges 0
  41. Brooks, Frederick P. 22
  42. building 16
  43. Burnham, Bo 9
  44. Cage, John 2
  45. Camus, Albert 13
  46. capitalism 3
  47. Caro, Renan Le 1
  48. Centers, Josh 1
  49. chance 11
  50. Chang, David 1
  51. chaos 4
  52. Chapman, David 1
  53. childhood 6
  54. Choi, Roy 3
  55. Churf, Young 1
  56. Ciechanowski, Bartosz 1
  57. clarity 3
  58. class 3
  59. Cleary, J.C. 8
  60. Clegg, Gordon 2
  61. cliché 4
  62. collaboration 18
  63. color 23
  64. commonplace 11
  65. competition 3
  66. Compton, Michael 1
  67. consciousness 5
  68. conservation 3
  69. consistency 2
  70. constraints 25
  71. consumption 5
  72. content 9
  73. control 5
  74. Cooper, Muriel 1
  75. Copland, Aaron 1
  76. Corum, Jonathan 2
  77. craft 66
  78. Crichton, Michael 1
  79. crime 9
  80. Critchlow, Tom 5
  81. critique 10
  82. Cross, Anita Clayburn 10
  83. Cross, Nigel 12
  84. Danielewski, Mark Z. 4
  85. darkness 28
  86. Dawidjan, Ryan 1
  87. death 38
  88. Debord, Guy 6
  89. deception 1
  90. DeCorah, Katy 1
  91. defiance 1
  92. democracy 2
  93. density 2
  94. design 131
  95. desperation 1
  96. destiny 5
  97. details 31
  98. disaster 2
  99. discrimination 1
  100. distortion 1
  101. Dondis, Donis A. 1
  102. Donnelly, Kate 2
  103. drawing 23
  104. dreams 6
  105. drugs 3
  106. dystopia 2
  107. economics 13
  108. Eden, Terence 2
  109. edges 3
  110. efficiency 7
  111. Eisenman, Peter 8
  112. elements 4
  113. emotion 8
  114. emptiness 6
  115. endurance 1
  116. energy 6
  117. Enslen, Brad 1
  118. entropy 1
  119. environment 5
  120. essays 2
  121. ethics 14
  122. ethnography 3
  123. evil 4
  124. evolution 9
  125. examples 1
  126. exercise 0
  127. experiments 6
  128. expertise 3
  129. fame 5
  130. farming 8
  131. Farnaby, Thomas 1
  132. Favreau, Jon 3
  133. fear 5
  134. features 25
  135. Few, Stephen 2
  136. film 3
  137. fire 5
  138. Fishburne, Tom 1
  139. flight 6
  140. Foulston, Marie 1
  141. freedom 3
  142. friendship 6
  143. Froes, Hugo 1
  144. gardens 26
  145. Garfield, Emily 4
  146. Garfunkel, Art 6
  147. gates 0
  148. genius 5
  149. geography 8
  150. geometry 18
  151. goals 9
  152. goodness 12
  153. grammar 1
  154. graphics 13
  155. grids 4
  156. growth 6
  157. Guston, Philip 1
  158. haiku 3
  159. Hansen, Tully 1
  160. harmony 1
  161. Harper, Thomas J. 15
  162. hate 3
  163. health 6
  164. heuristics 1
  165. Hido, Todd 1
  166. Hill, Dan 2
  167. Hoff, Melanie 1
  168. Hoffman, Yoel 10
  169. Hofstadter, Douglas 6
  170. Hohne, Courtney 2
  171. holism 4
  172. Holzer, Jenny 1
  173. home 15
  174. horror 3
  175. Hurst, Mark 1
  176. iconography 6
  177. illusion 1
  178. images 10
  179. industry 9
  180. intelligence 1
  181. interest 10
  182. interfaces 37
  183. intimacy 1
  184. intuition 8
  185. invention 10
  186. Isaacson, Walter 28
  187. iteration 13
  188. Ive, Jonathan 6
  189. Jackson, Steven J. 14
  190. Jacobs, Jane 54
  191. Johnson, Rian 2
  192. justice 1
  193. Kafka, Franz 2
  194. Kate, Maya 2
  195. Kaufman, Kenn 4
  196. Kaufman, Charlie 2
  197. Keith, Jeremy 6
  198. Keller, Jenny 10
  199. Kelly, Kevin 3
  200. Kerouac, Jack 1
  201. Kingdon, Jonathan 5
  202. Kiriakakis, Kostas 1
  203. Kleon, Austin 13
  204. Knuth, Donald 2
  205. Krakauer, John 1
  206. Kramer, Karen L. 10
  207. Krishna, Golden 10
  208. Krishnan, Rohit 0
  209. Kwan, Jeong 1
  210. Lee, Chang-dong 1
  211. legibility 1
  212. Lewis, C.S. 1
  213. light 31
  214. listening 1
  215. Liu, Howie 1
  216. Lloyd, Alexis 1
  217. Lo-Fang 1
  218. Loewy, Raymond 2
  219. logic 2
  220. Lovell, Sophie 16
  221. Lu, Ryo 1
  222. Luhmann, Niklas 1
  223. Luu, Dan 8
  224. Lynch, David 1
  225. machines 6
  226. magic 2
  227. Magnus, Margaret 12
  228. Marr, David 1
  229. Mars, Roman 13
  230. math 16
  231. Mazanek, Claudia 1
  232. McConnell, Ivana 1
  233. McGilchrist, Ian 1
  234. Menking, Amanda 1
  235. Miller, J. Abbott 10
  236. minimalism 10
  237. Miyazaki, Hayao 30
  238. modernism 5
  239. mondegreens 5
  240. morality 8
  241. motivation 1
  242. movement 2
  243. Mudford, Trys 1
  244. Murray, Gordon 2
  245. mystery 3
  246. Müller, Boris 7
  247. Nanda, Neel 1
  248. navigation 1
  249. networks 15
  250. Neustadter, Scott 3
  251. Newport, Cal 1
  252. Nielsen, Michael 1
  253. Nietzsche, Friedrich 1
  254. Nilsson, Magnus 2
  255. O'Connor, Siobhan 1
  256. Oh, Jung-mi 1
  257. optimization 1
  258. order 10
  259. organization 6
  260. Orr, Eric 1
  261. Orwell, George 7
  262. Ott, Matthias 4
  263. ownership 6
  264. paradox 1
  265. parks 2
  266. Parr, Kealan 1
  267. Peacock, E.E. 1
  268. performance 17
  269. Pernice, Kara 1
  270. Perrine, John D. 9
  271. Perry, Sarah 1
  272. personality 4
  273. Pinker, Steven 8
  274. play 3
  275. Pleşoianu, Felix 1
  276. poetry 13
  277. Pollan, Michael 6
  278. Popova, Maria 2
  279. Poppendieck, Mary 1
  280. practice 10
  281. production 7
  282. Prokopov, Nikita 2
  283. psychology 6
  284. purpose 3
  285. Pye, David 42
  286. pylons 5
  287. questions 8
  288. quirks 3
  289. Qureshi, Nabeel 1
  290. Raskin, Aza 1
  291. Reichenstein, Oliver 5
  292. Rendle, Robin 12
  293. Renieris, Elizabeth M. 1
  294. repair 28
  295. research 17
  296. respect 3
  297. rest 0
  298. Reveal, James L. 4
  299. rights 1
  300. Robinson, Edwin Arlington 1
  301. Rodrigues, Ana 1
  302. Roethke, Theodore 1
  303. Rohe, Ludwig Mies van der 1
  304. Rossetti, Christina 1
  305. Rougeux, Nicholas 4
  306. rules 2
  307. Rushdie, Salman 1
  308. Russell, Bertrand 1
  309. Rutter, Kate 3
  310. Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de 2
  311. scale 6
  312. Schapiro, Meyer 1
  313. school 1
  314. science 17
  315. sculpture 2
  316. seafaring 3
  317. security 2
  318. self-reference 2
  319. senses 11
  320. serendipity 2
  321. Shah, Ankit 1
  322. Shakespeare, William 4
  323. silence 9
  324. Silver, Adam 1
  325. Silverstein, Murray 33
  326. Simmon, Robert 1
  327. size 3
  328. skill 17
  329. sleep 4
  330. Sloan, Robin 5
  331. slowness 2
  332. smell 1
  333. Smith, Justin E. H. 6
  334. Smith, Cyril Stanley 29
  335. Smyth, Hamish 1
  336. socializing 7
  337. software 68
  338. Sorkin, Michael 56
  339. space 20
  340. Spolsky, Joel 1
  341. sports 2
  342. stairs 4
  343. Stengers, Isabelle 1
  344. strangeness 1
  345. streets 10
  346. strength 1
  347. Strunk, William 15
  348. success 2
  349. suffering 3
  350. surprise 2
  351. Takatani, Shiro 1
  352. talent 3
  353. Taylor, Dorian 16
  354. tea 3
  355. teaching 21
  356. teamwork 17
  357. technique 5
  358. Thomas, Dave 1
  359. thomassons 3
  360. Tolkien, J.R.R. 6
  361. tradition 4
  362. transitions 5
  363. trash 5
  364. travel 2
  365. Trombley, Nick 44
  366. trust 2
  367. Tschumi, Bernard 0
  368. Turrell, James 6
  369. Tzu, Sun 2
  370. Vallandingham, Jim 1
  371. values 4
  372. vanity 0
  373. Vieira, Sara 1
  374. wabi-sabi 8
  375. Wallace, David Foster 33
  376. Wang, Shawn 6
  377. Watanabe, Kei 1
  378. weakness 1
  379. Webb, Matt 14
  380. Webster, Noah 2
  381. Wechler, Lawrence 37
  382. Weinberg, Gerald 1
  383. Weinberger, David 1
  384. whimsy 11
  385. White, E.B. 15
  386. Wibowo, Amy 1
  387. windows 6
  388. wisdom 20
  389. Wittgenstein, Ludwig 7
  390. work 81
  391. Wurman, Richard Saul 18
  392. www 88
  393. Xu, Bing 2
  394. Yamashita, Yuhki 4
  395. Yanai, Itai 1
  396. Yang, Katherine 1
  397. Yu, Lu 1
  398. Yudkowsky, Eliezer 17
  399. Yurieff, Kaya 1
  400. Zakas, Nicholas 1
  401. zen 38
  402. Zittrain, Jonathan 1
  403. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  404. About
  405. RSS Feed
  406. Source

invention

Close
  • Stick like hell

    When the Wizard of Menlo Park called invention 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration, he was speaking not only about the creative act of inventing but also about the whole inventive process needed to bring more than intellectual success. Edison warned against discouragement during the perspiration phase in the following way, reminding us that we get things to work by the successive removal of bugs:

    Genius? Nothing! Sticking to it is the genius! Any other bright-minded fellow can accomplish just as much of he will stick like hell and remember nothing that's any good works by itself. You've got to make the damn thing work!...I failed my way to success.

    Thomas Edison, The Evolution of Useful Things
    • invention
    • success
  • More easily asked than definitively answered

    Some design questions are more easily asked than definitively answered. Inventors are seldom at a loss for problems, and so they must choose which ones they will work on.

    Henry Petroski, The Evolution of Useful Things
    • invention
    • questions
    • choice
  • We feel it in our fingers

    In System A, there is no architect separate from the contractor. We are builders, simply. As builders, we have a direct feeling about construction. We feel it in our fingers, so it is down to earth. One result of this down-to-earth quality is that everything is somewhat experimental. We make experiments all the time. Sometimes we place a piece of wood this way. Another time, we may like to try it that way. Any time something new comes up in the design of a building, we are very likely to try and invent the best way of building it. This is not a great big invention. Just a simple invention, the way we might invent a way of tying a piece of string, to hold a broken toy together. It is just practical.

    Christopher Alexander, The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth
    1. ​​In Defence of Intuition​​
    • invention
    • creativity
    • problems
  • History tends to be charitable

    History tends to be charitable. It gives credit for understanding what something means when we first do it. But there is a wise saying, “Almost everyone who opens up a new field does not really understand it the way the followers do.”

    The reason this happens so often is the creators have to fight through so many dark difficulties, and wade through so much misunderstanding and confusion, they cannot see the light as others can, now the door is open and the path made easy.

    Richard Hamming, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn
    • invention
  • The word invents itself

    Posits certain neologisms as arising from their own cultural necessity—his words, I believe. Yes, he said. When the kind of experience that you're getting a man-sized taste of becomes possible, the word invents itself.

    David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
    • words
    • meaning
    • novelty
    • invention
  • The Evolution of Useful Things

    A Book by Henry Petroski

    Here, then, is the central idea: the form of made things is always subject to change in response to their real or perceived shortcomings, their failures to function properly. This principle governs all invention, innovation, ingenuity.

    1. ​​Spike and spon​​
    2. ​​Shaped and reshaped​​
    3. ​​Form follows failure​​
    4. ​​Their wrongness is somehow more immediate​​
    5. ​​A small corner of the world of things​​
    1. ​​The evolution of devices​​
    • form
    • function
    • invention
    • progress
    • failure
  • Stepping stones in possibility space

    An Article by Gordon Brander
    subconscious.substack.com

    If we try to cross this lake by following only the stepping stones that lead toward our objective, we’ll soon get stuck. But what if we let go of our objectives? What if we focused on trying to find new stepping stones instead? This is novelty search. Instead of looking for something specific, you look for something new.

    Novelty search isn’t just random, it’s chance plus memory. Together, these ingredients do something interesting.

    ...Stepping stones are also combinatorial. Each new stepping stone we discover expands our potential to find even more stepping stones. Collecting stepping stones is a luck maximization algorithm. By collecting and combining stepping stones, we might arrive at our destination by accident, or somewhere more interesting!

    • chance
    • knowledge
    • progress
    • novelty
    • evolution
    • invention
  • Ideas behind their time

    An Article by Tim Harford
    www.ft.com

    These days I am more interested in the reverse case [of Da Vinci's helicopter]: ideas that could have worked many centuries before they actually appeared. The economist Alex Tabarrok calls these “ideas behind their time”

    Curious minds want to know why these ideas appeared so late — and whether there might be anything that would prevent delays in future. One explanation is that the ideas aren’t as simple as they appear.

    The bicycle is not as straightforward an invention as it seems. To move from ox-hauled cart to human-powered bicycle requires smooth-rolling wheel bearings, which in turn need precisely engineered bearing balls. Modern steel ball bearings were not patented until the late 1700s, and demand from the 19th-century bicycle industry helped to improve their design.

    1. ​​Materials and how to employ them​​
    • invention
    • ideas
  • Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation

    A Research Paper
    www.nber.org

    We directly establish the importance of environment by showing that exposure to innovation during childhood has significant causal effects on children's propensities to invent. Children whose families move to a high-innovation area when they are young are more likely to become inventors. These exposure effects are technology-class and gender specific.

    1. ​​Upstream, Downstream​​
    • invention
    • innovation
    • childhood
  • Age of Invention

    A Series by Anton Howes
    antonhowes.substack.com

    I’m a historian of innovation. I write mostly about the causes of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, focusing on the lives of the individual innovators who made it happen. I’m interested in everything from the exploits of sixteenth-century alchemists to the schemes of Victorian engineers. My research explores why they became innovators, and the institutions they created to promote innovation even further.

    1. ​​Upstream, Downstream​​
    • invention
    • innovation
    • history
    • industry

See also:
  1. novelty
  2. innovation
  3. progress
  4. creativity
  5. problems
  6. words
  7. meaning
  8. history
  9. industry
  10. childhood
  11. questions
  12. choice
  13. ideas
  14. success
  15. form
  16. function
  17. failure
  18. chance
  19. knowledge
  20. evolution
  1. Henry Petroski
  2. Christopher Alexander
  3. David Foster Wallace
  4. Richard Hamming
  5. Anton Howes
  6. Tim Harford
  7. Thomas Edison
  8. Gordon Brander